RACE REPORTS

This week brought some on-shore action with plenty of enhancements taking place on the boats.Molly M was sporting a new set of tweakers, Dash with upgraded sails and sheets, Firefly a new mast and Yenda Lee with a shiny set of new sails.

Elsewhere, Tony was working on the refresh of the Upper Cut and the One Step Beyond is still undergoing mysterious updates in the DDH skunk-works.

The forecast was for a moderate to fresh Southerly in the morning easing to a moderate Sou-Easter in the afternoon. However, the breeze had other thoughts with the direction remaining in the South and kicking before the start.

The fleet faced the starting line with a strong incoming tide and a gusty puffy breeze with some large shifts. There was enough on the water for 2 of the fleet to consider that a warm drink in the club was a better proposition.Firefly grabbed the boat start and led the way up the first work with Yenda Lee alongside and Waterborne at Last and Wave Catcher battling for 3rd. Yenda Lee picked a nice left hander at the top mark to grab the lead, rounding inside Firefly followed by Waterborne at Last, Wave Catcher, Dash, Jazze and Fastglass.

The next 2 laps provided very tight racing in shifty conditions amongst the top 6 boats with constant changes. The shifts and puffs meant that at no time could you feel safe that you had a cover on the next boat. New gear troubles impacted Firefly (spinnaker pole) and Dash (spinnaker halyard cleat) dropping them back though the fleet. Meanwhile at the front Yenda Lee was sailing fast and smart to maintain a tight lead. Wave Catcher was able to wear Waterborneat Last and close on the leader but Cam and Stirling held strong to take a well-deserved first win of the season. The first 3 boats crossing in under a minute apart.​Next was Firefly who were able to pass Jazze on the final lap ahead of a fast finishing Dash.